Jake Courtepatte | Special to the Fitzhugh
Jasper National Park may be saving large amounts of energy in the near future, thanks to a project put forth by electricity company ATCO and Jasper town council.
Jasper CAO Mark Fercho presented the project to council at the Feb. 25 Committee of the Whole meeting, having worked with ATCO on possibly replacing a number of high-pressure sodium streetlights around town with LED conversions.
“ATCO has come back now with a finalized agreement to sign in order to move ahead with this project,” said Fercho. “The cost of energy would drop significantly.”
In terms of customers’ bills around town, Fercho said there could be even be a reduction due to the LED multiplier to pay for the infrastructure.
In 2016, ATCO, who is the electricity provider for the town as a whole, changed its streetlight engineering standard from high pressure sodium fixtures to a LED fixture. The purpose was fourfold: reduced energy consumption, reduced maintenance costs, increased fixture lifespan and equal or better lighting quality.
The installation cost to convert all fixtures to LED technology, including materials, labour, engineering, and overhead costs necessary to convert 20,379 fixtures to LED technology, is estimated at $9,856,000.
Some streetlights around town are already of the LED variety, specifically along Connaught Drive.
Although Fercho said his office has not yet heard any feedback on these lights, whether positive or negative, he is confident the project is right for Jasper.
“As far as my staff has seen, it looks the best, and the fact that we can save energy and meet higher standards, and that ATCO provides us with a product that more than any company is easily replaceable,” he said.
The project would only include invested streetlights: a term used to describe lighting that the municipality pays a fee for, ensuring the replacement or repair of damaged or deficient lights without expense to the municipality.
Mayor Richard Ireland brought this up as a concern in council, suggesting the town look into converting more non-invested streetlights into invested.
Councillor Paul Butler echoed the Mayor’s sentiments, suggesting the need to know more about the different varieties of streetlight before greenlighting the project.
“We need to know how many streetlights in the community this doesn’t affect. That seems to be the piece of information we still need.”
Jasper has just under 500 streetlights, and as indicated, it is not yet known how many will be eligible for the program, or have already been converted.
Fercho and ATCO would need council’s consent to gain the approval for the project. No date is set yet on a possible decision on signing the official letter to start the project.
